Chicago Style< Peruvian Flavor

 Our new pope is a Chicogoan.It's a huge honors for,the USAalong with Illinois and CHicago Pope Leo XIV is probably missing that good Chi-town food despite being in a culinary paradise.Chicago food is influence dby Italian and other ethnic groups who settled in the Windy City.

There are already POpe Leo themed dishes.An iconic CHicago  restaurant chain ,Portillo's has already created a dish for the pontiff born Robert Prevost .Its' Italian beef sandwich already has been named "The Leo".This is shredded beef smothered  with three kinds of peppers and a rich beef gravy .It's sandwiched between half a loaf of Italian bread. Bennison Bakery in nearby Evanston has baked a butter cookie with the pope;s image on it. The Pope also grew up with such CHi-town classics as deep dish pizza,  a spin on pizza rustica.It's loaded with sausage pepperoni and generous helpings of tomato sauce and mozzarella. There is also Chicago thin crust pizza which has an ultra fine thin crust and is cut into squares instead of wedges.There;s also Chicago style hot dogs or "dragged through the garden" dogs. This is a Vienna beef hot dog that;s topped with sliced tomatoes, relish, chopped white onions and a green pickle. A dash of celery salt and a stripe of mustard is added for more flavor. Ketchup is never ever used on these weiners. That's sacrilege to any Chicogoan!

The Pope spent a great deal of time in the seaside town of Chiclayo in northwestern Peru.His favorite dish was goat with beans and rice.He was also fond of ceviche, raw seafood "cooked in lime juice.Tje acid in the juice changes' the meat's composition while preserving its' raw ,briny taste.It can be made at home with either raw or cooked fish.Red onion and cilantro are also added for more flavor.Pope Leo also likes second which means dry in Spamish but is also a rich, savory stew.It's usually made from beef or kid macerated in vinegar. This is not quite marinating but softening the meat ,Yellow potatoes are added to thicken it.The recipe varies throughout South America. Ecuadorians also add avocados and ripe plantains along with achiote, a red spice sort of like cinnamon.The Pope may have also enjoyed a variety of potatoes too.A Peruvian staple quinoa is now an everyday American dish that can be made into a delicious bowl .It;s usually cooked with veggies for a healthy lunch or dinner.

POpe Leo has had a very good culinary background. First there was Chicago, then Peru and now Rome. He couldn't;t have asked for a better diet.

Buffets And Tariffs

 President Trump's tariffs affect not only home chefs but all chef;s. Restaurants will be greatly impacted which means higher prices for diners. The worst hit is the affordable all you can eat buffets, in casino towns in Reno, Nevada.Those easy on the wallet lunches and dinners may be a thing of the past.

Regular contributor and chef Priya Krishna wrote about this in Wednesday's New YorkTimes Food section. Prices will go up around the county but in casino towns it will be devastating.Reno has fifty all you can eat sushi buffets. A la carte sushi is becoming a thing of the past and those restaurants offering that are quickly going out of business according to Michael Higdon a local food writer and photographer, He also states there is a lot of pride in having many all you can eat places.There is cost in creating Reno sushi bars. The fish doesn't have the pristine simplicity of pure Japanese sushi. These are more baroque creations made mainly by Latino chefs who infuse their culinary traditions in them. The high cost of seafood and local restauarants' need to offer bounty and variety has created a flamboyant new cuisine. The fish is no longer the star but a supporting character.The menus have punchy names foillowed by a plethora of ingredients. There is the Playboy  -a wild mix of cream cheese with tempura shrimp, onion red snapper .avocado and jalapeno. There is the Mickey , so named because it;s supposed to resemble the Disney mascot. This is a mix of seared tuna, avocado, unagi and sriracha sauce.

Many restaurant owners - who are not Japanese  - adopt the all you can eat menu because it is cost efficient. Jongsoo Park who opened Kuma Sushi a couple of years ago said she wanted to serve premium species such as sea urchins and spot prawns. Yet their high price would have made her open up an ala carte eatery. That was unaffordable. An all you can eat restaurant was a better choice. It provided a quick cash return which made the restaurant immediately profitable.The prpblem with an all you can eat buffets is that it does take a high volume to make a lot of money. with fifty similar restaurants scattered throughout the town that can be come impossible according to Khai Duc Du, owner of Hinoki Sushi. Trump's tariffs on CHina has hit a whopping 145 percent, affecting such sushi essentials as eel and seaweed. It may affect the purveyor of all the fish served in  Reno, Miyuki Wong. She works for the local distributor Sierra Meat and Seafood and sells $200,000 a week of just seafood alone. Eel along has jumped from $8.40 a pound to $11.90 and then after the tariffs $13.95. The alternative is to serve non seafood extras like edamame and dumplings like Reno;s oldest sushi bars Reno Pier owned by Heejin Polon.

Will Reno's sushi bars be a thing of the past with all these new tariffs being slapped on the seafood? Possibly but maybe not. Restaurant owners will find a way of keeping customers , maybe with vegan sushi. The fish iis too expensive.

Mother's Day Treats

Mother's Day is Sunday and that's a time for all kids to cook  something yummy for Mom.Here's the question what was your best recipe you made for your Mom.I liked making cinnamon toast for her when I was younger.

Let us know yours Was it a cheese omelets? Hamburgers on the grill? Or something more elaborate?

 

Mexican Indian Fusion Surprisingly Traditional

Fusion food is nothing new. It;s basically how Cajun and Creole food were born. Even Mexican recipes can be fused with another ones.This may seem novel but it;'s actually an old idea brought to light.

Regular contributor and chef, Tejal Rao wrote about the unique blend of Mexican and Indian cuisine in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. This is not some new fangled idea brought about by  a fast food chain.It has to do with restrictive immigration laws a century ago.In 1917 Punjabi-Sikh and Muslim men immigrated to Sacramento to find work as farmers and loggers out side Califormia's capital beginning in the late 1800's After the Immigration Act of 1917 which made it near impossible for Indian women to migrate to the US, hundreds of men married Mexican women,New kinds of cooking and recipes emerged from their home kitchens and even a handful of restaurants sprung up.One couple GUlam and Inez Aguirre Rasul left farming to open ElRanchero in Yuba City, California Since Mr Rasul was a Muslim pork dishes were e off the table.Instead there were roti quesadillas with cheese,onions and shredded beef.It was a hit until the restaurant closed in the 1990s.

Mexican Indian cuisine isn;t codified. so there are really no classic dishes.There could be a series of different ones  taken from one or two recipes.This is how is ts in the Mexican Indian restaurant Mirra in Chicago.Slices of yellowtail snapper are drenched in a lime spiked buttermilk ,hot and tangy with a garlic and Serrano pepper acha a South Asian pickle.It;s tucked under a delicate crunch of nopales ginger and curry leaves. They also celebrate Mr. Rasul's roti by having it on the menu along side shrimp Chaat and lamb tacos or taco Arabe. Their biryani tends to go with local produce than the more traditional ingredients.There is also Saucy Chick in Pasadena, Califnronia run by Mexican Marcel Michel and his wife Rhea Patel Marcel.They call their cuisine Indi-Mex and  feature rotisserie chicken marinated in echo jeera  spectacular curry that is based on one of the backbone spices of Indian cuisine, Another marinade mimicked Mr. Michels' favorite pibil, a marinade made from orange juice and achiote There's also going to be a spicy sweet dal as well as fish pakora to the taco menu.

Mexican Indian food or Indi-Mex may be the next big food trend. Two cultures come together to create a cuisine that's both flavorful and interesting. It's may change up the way Mexican food is thought about.

The Old College Try

 College can bring many memories with it. Awesome professors, Interesting classes and fun activities. Yet what about the food? Many barely remember what they ever ate during those two ro four years. Why? Maybe colleges need tutoring in what to serve.

THis was apparent wen I went to my college;s cherished tradition of  breakfast night., Fairleigh Dickinson University has this on both their Florham-Madison and Teaneck-Hackensack campuses. It's where University staff, proffs and office workers alike get together - with the help of cafeteria staff to serve a hot breakfast the night before the first exam.(It wasn't there when I was an undergrad.) It's fun  - and tiring. I served my students and others  all sorts of first meal staples and treats. There was herbed scrambled eggs, Tater tots, French  toast - so popular, - pancakes and two kinds of meat sausage -turkey links and pork patties. I'm sure the starch and sugar rush helped in studying - although it was more of a party with music and dance-offs.Yet it got me thinking. FDU always had good cafeteria food in my day. I can still remember the creamy scrambled eggs and crispy ,crunchy bacon. Yet kids today are smarter than we were. WHy weren't they demanding more fruit and even veggies in our cafeteria year round.

Processed food and the college diet go hand in hand.It;'s easier for cafeteria to buy it in bulk.It's quick and easy to prepare especially for a large crowd. The cafeteria in our Student Union Building has a relatively good salad bar. Our other does not. Kids can get bowls with healthy chicken and quorn yet I feel they can do more. Even community colleges  -I've also taught in one - Passaic Community College - can offer more healthier choices. PCC has a varied menu - one of the best I've had with Jamaican chicken jerk and tasty empanadas yet I don;t recall salads. More progressive colleges such as Bowdoin College in Bowdoin Maine offers fresh ,organic veggies WHy fresh? The campus has it's own gardens and many of the veggies find their way into soups and salads. There are vegan and vegetarian options as well as gluten free. Cornell University in upstate New York actually has a food court counting twelve eateries. Students can buy fresh baked goods along with fresh veggies and fruits. even their ice cream isn;Lt processed. It's also made fresh at the college creamery.

Schools have a lot to learn from their students. Hopefully Faiirleigh and other schools can learn from these other colleges. It's time to take eating seriously as studying on campus.

Classics Made Easy

 It used to be that gnocchi were hard to make. it involved boiling potatoes then mashing them with flour and egg to form ropes. These were cut into bite sized pieces and then stamped with a fork to form little grooves. Then there was a drying period where they would be laid out on a table or  even a bed(!) to dry. Not anymore. Thank heavens for modern day gnocchi.

I realized the ease of these when I made two of Lidl's I stand gnocchi and sauce for Sunday supper.

This was an easy  cook without boiling water for seven minutes before adding already made ones and a delicious porcini mushroom sauce.

The four packets were added at the same time and left to boil for another seven to ten minutes then simmered for an additional five.

What I loved is that I made a whole pot of gnocchi and sauce for under half an hour . it wasn't any labor involved. Just occasional stirring to prevent the little puffs from sticking together.

The results were just as good as my Mom's Nonna;s  and great aunt's. This was a creamy warm dish,perfect on a rainy Sunday in May. It was filling and delicious.I will be trying their four cheese variety next.

Nothing beats homemade, that's true. Yet Lidl's instant gnocchi is worth trying. It's flavor and satisfaction in less than half an hour.

Derby Fare Your Way

 The famed Kentucky Derby brings its' own special drinks and foods to the American table.What would a Derby party be without a cooling sip of min julips and tasty bites of hot browns and burgo.. Yet these can be redone to fit summer parties and everyday meals.It's just varying the classic recipes to fit your tastes

Mint juleps are di figeur for today's parties. It;s a simple drink first starting in the 17o00's an dusting Kentucky's most famous product - bourbon. The classic recipes involves making a simple syrup which is nothing more than granulated sugar and water cooked down in a sauce pan, and mixing freshly chopped mint leaves together. Pour as much  or as little bourbon as you like into this and add pebbled or crushed ice. For something slightly different use maple syrup instead of the simple syrup.This would be perfect for a late Sunday brunch because the maple flavor would pair well with French toast, waffles or pancakes. You could also create a cherry mint julep by subbing in Luxardo liqueur a cherry rich after dinner cordial.Another idea is a strawberry flavored one. Add minced or pureed strawberries to the sugar and mint , then the bourbon and ice. Chocolate and mint go hand in hand and you can easily sub in the mints leaves with chocolate mint to create a sweet dessert drink.

The foods of the Kentucky Derby can also be reimagined. The famed Louisville hot brown is a an open faced turkey sandwich topped with bacon and tomatoes. Mornay sauce is poured over it and the sandwich is broiled  for five minutes in a broiler. It's usually made like a casserole with it being cut into individual squares for single servings. You could turn the sandwich into a variation, Devonshire turkey which was created in Pennsylvania a few years after the Hot Browns. This is omitting  the Mornay sauce so it's more of a dryer , yet still tasty sandwich. The Mornay sauce can be subbed out for a creamier bechamel sauce and Canadian bacon can be used instead of regular bacon. Borgoo is another classic Kentucky dish.This stew is a variation of Brunswick stew and made with a melange of pork, beef and chicken along with potaotes carrots and tomatoes.Okra , green beans corm and a diced onion also are mixed in to give it more colro and taste. Barbecue sauce give it its; classic tang while apple cider vinegar gives it bite. It's usually made with garlic, bell peppers and celery  however you can omit these. For a more vegan version nix the meats and add kidney and pinto beans. Sub in vegetable broth instead of the standard chicken one too for a more vegetarian friendly dish.

Kentucky Derby treats can be served any time of the year not just the first Saturday of May. Try the julep variations .Make diufferent forms of Hot Browns and burgoo. They're all tasty.